Vancouver Island MusicFest

Courtenay, British Columbia, July 10-12

Artists Choice

"At Primavera Sound, in Barcelona last year, we came on at 4:30 A.M. During our last song, the crowd advanced the stage like a wave off the Mediterranean, and next thing we knew there were a hundred people on stage with us."

Camp on the leafy banks of the Tsolum River at this intimate festival of folk and world music, which draws about 9,000 people and is nearly zero-wasteeven the plates and cutlery are compostable.Don't Miss Folk icon Arlo Guthrie, Celtic-pop fiddlers Enter the Haggis, and Edgar Meyer, one of the funkiest upright bass players working today. Three days, $119; islandmusicfest.com.Intermission Gravity fans will want to try the world-class downhill mountain biking at Mount Washington Alpine Resort (lift tickets, $30; rentals, $89 per day; mountwashington.ca/summer).